When Tom Walsh and his partner Elisa Sonaglioni put an offer in on a house in Upper Rissington, they knew that they would need to modernise the house in order to make it suitable for modern day family living. They had saved long and hard to be able to buy their forever home and were budgeting £110,000 to build a kitchen and dining room extension with an additional bedroom in order to accommodate family members when they came to stay. The couple moved into the house in September 2022 along with their young son Matteo and started the process of finding a suitable local builder to undertake the work they wanted to do.

“We thought we had done due diligence on the builder we chose to work with. He had two local businesses, both of which appeared to be successful, and we went to see work he said he had completed,” Elisa explains. “He started the work in October 2023 stating the project should be completed in around five months. We handed over £60,000 in staged payments over the next 5 months to the builder, and also forked out nearly £15,000 in additional costs for materials.”

skips, labourers wages ourselves as he was starting to disappear on us. We had also invested in buying the kitchen units and the glass windows that would be required, leaving very little of our original budget left. At this point, we were desperate to keep the project moving.

“After five months, work was progressing very slowly and by March 2024, he was on-site less often, as were his team. He then advised us that he had to have an operation and interestingly we subsequently found out that he had sold his house the same day he told us about the op. This was when he disappeared. Not only did he take all of our money, what he left behind when he disappeared without a trace, was a house that was falling to pieces and unsafe for habitation.”

Tom tried hard to undertake repairs to the damage, which had been caused, but he soon realized that without building skills it was all beyond him. The whole situation left them feeling desperate and devastated that it was no longer safe for Elisa and Matteo to be in the property along with Tom. Consequently, Elisa and Matteo went to stay with her family in London, whilst Tom camped out in one room, relying on the kindness of neighbors to feed him as the kitchen is out of bounds. Neighbors and local residents of Upper Rissington also launched an online fundraising campaign which raised £3,000 towards further materials to help out the couple, for which they were eternally grateful.

Elisa adds: “It’s been a nightmare. The house was dropping in the middle and there were some severe cracks upstairs. There were undone floorboards, with pipes and large nails exposed, posing a safety risk. As well as large cracks in two upstairs bedrooms, there was a big hole in Matteo’s bedroom, a main steel support for the house was bowing, and the steel supports for the extension were faulty. The steels he had used were never going to be strong enough to hold up the house. They were not placed safely, and the plaster and brickwork underneath would have crumbled within two years, causing the house to fall down. Most of the work carried out failed Building Regulations. This rogue builder, which I have done everything I can to trace, has not only disappeared but could have killed us, which does not bear thinking about. He knew that and didn’t care.

” However, following Elisa’s social media campaign, one of her posts was read by Ben Pentland, partner of Pentland & Chandler Construction based in Witney. 

“When I saw Elisa’s post and read what she, Tom, and Matteo had been going through, and having just had a baby of my own, I felt compelled that our company had to step in and help,” says Ben. “When James and I got to see the property, we were horrified at the condition it had been left in by someone who clearly had no idea what they were doing. We have volunteered our services providing labor completely free of charge and thanks to a number of local companies such as Witney Plant Hire who supplied cranes to remove the faulty steels and help us insert the new ones, which were supplied by Witney Steel Stock at half of their normal price. We have been able to work to ensure that the house is now stable and will not fall down. Seeing the family split apart as it is unsafe for Elisa and Matteo to spend much time on-site has spurred us all on. I give Tom his ‘homework,’ which he is able to do during evenings and with us when we are working at the property weekends and evenings and when possible, during our working week. I have now put another post out on social media asking other contractors from plumbers to electricians to plasterers and decorators to offer their time free of charge. We are keen, however, if there are any local companies who can offer support by way of donating materials, we would so appreciate their help and support. We really need cladding materials for the exterior, kitchen worktops, and laminate flooring for some of the upstairs rooms.”

When Ben saw my first post and offered to help voluntarily with labor completely free of charge to help get us home, we thought what incredible human beings. It’s been amazing working with Ben and James over the last couple of months to develop a plan on how to fix our house; they have liaised with suppliers to get us good prices on materials, and they have been on-site at weekends with their team in their own free time, working to fix the house. Such professionalism, calm, and reassuring and just so giving. The first Saturday they were on-site was an emotional one when every one of their team shook my hand and my son’s hand and told us how good it felt to be there and that they would get us home. I mean, what do you say when you’ve spent weeks and months in complete despair (I just cried like a baby!). They are all true, kind, and hardworking gentlemen. And thanks also to Witney Steel Stock and Witney Plant Hire, with a huge sigh of relief… all the steels have been replaced and installed as per structural engineer drawings. Seeing the house standing up structurally safe is a huge milestone. They are all absolute heroes, and I will keep saying it every day that they give us.”

Now the walls are structurally safe, the next big job is to complete the roof as all the roof joists were incorrectly installed, which means that £6,000 of materials and work have to be discarded. It is hoped that the roof will be complete by the end of August and the brickwork, first fix plumbing, and electrics can get underway in September with the help of a host of other volunteers. The couple had bought a kitchen which has sat in storage for nearly a year, and it would be their dream to be able to move into just a couple of rooms at some point in September.

“I will never be able to say thank you enough. We’ve seen the absolute worst in someone, but kindness has been shown by so many others. Without Pentland & Chandler Construction stepping forward and doing such a truly heroic deed, Tom and I simply do not know where we would be.”

If you are looking for a building and landscaping company you can rely on, Ben and James have earned a reputation for excellence in the work they do all around Oxfordshire and into Gloucestershire. They do everything from taking the plans to their Quantity Surveyor for pricing through to the build to internal finishes and final landscaping if required. Not only do they work on domestic properties but commercial projects too such as the Witney Rugby Club’s new clubhouse. With over 30 years’ experience in the industry, West Oxfordshire District Council has placed Pentland & Chandler Construction on their recommended builders portal.